Social care not approving permanent funding for care home

[ELITE72]

My mother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's/mixed type dementia and was deemed to need 4 weeks of respite in a care home late December. This was because it was too late to arrange the 4 x daily care visits needed as it was too close to Christmas. The assessment from social care prior to this was a joke and lasted about 10 minutes. The social workers didn't even take off their coats and one of them was constantly on her personal phone to her grandchildren on What's App arranging a sleepover!! They didn't assess anything in my mothers flat and only saw her walk to the toilet as she needed to go half way through.
Today (23.01.22) Social care have now been in touch with the care home and told them that no further funding is available for respite or a permanent place and my mum will need to be discharged with 3 x carers a day. No assessment has been carried out at the home (as promised) and us as a family have had absolutely no contact with social care despite us emailing them last week to enquire what was happening. The home manager is in full agreement that my mother needs to be in the home as she is at risk of falling due to mobility issues and also suffering from COPD and low blood pressure when she stands up after sitting down for any period of time.
Also, my mother accepts that the home is the best place for her and has really settled in well and joins in with activities.
Has anyone on here experienced anything similar? Our biggest fear is mum coming home and having an incident in between care visits.

 

[Sarasa]

Hi @ELITE72 and welcome to Dementia Talking Point.
Social Services are so short of money that I think they need to see that three care visits a day are not working before they will consider care.
Hopefully someone who has been in a similar situation will be along shortly, but I think phone social services and talk to a senior manager pointing out they have not done a proper assessment of your mother's need or her home environment. Point out the home thinks she needs to be there, so it isn't a case of a preference it is what your mother actually needs. I think contacting your local councillor and the one in charge of the social services committee might also be a good idea, as well as writing to your MP. I think it would also be a good idea to talk to the Support Line. They are open till 8.00pm this evening.

Dementia Support Line

If you need dementia support, we’re here for you. Get personalised information, support and advice by calling us on 0333 150 3456.

www.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[northumbrian_k]

Hi @ELITE72 and welcome to Dementia Talking Point. I am sorry to say that this seems to be something that is all too common. Those who know your mother best - you, the care home manager and your mother herself - can see that her needs will be best met by a permanent place in a care home. My experience of it is limited (as my wife was self-funding for the first 20 months) but it seems that social workers will always try to get people back into their own homes. It is likely to be the cheaper option but is just storing up future troubles and crises.

Based on your description, you have every right to make the case for your mother staying where she is. If an 'assessment' was carried out, where is the record of that? Has a care plan been developed? Has a proper assessment of 'best interests' been made? These and more are the kind of questions I would be wanting to ask if faced with a similar situation.

 

[Palerider]

My mother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's/mixed type dementia and was deemed to need 4 weeks of respite in a care home late December. This was because it was too late to arrange the 4 x daily care visits needed as it was too close to Christmas. The assessment from social care prior to this was a joke and lasted about 10 minutes. The social workers didn't even take off their coats and one of them was constantly on her personal phone to her grandchildren on What's App arranging a sleepover!! They didn't assess anything in my mothers flat and only saw her walk to the toilet as she needed to go half way through.
Today (23.01.22) Social care have now been in touch with the care home and told them that no further funding is available for respite or a permanent place and my mum will need to be discharged with 3 x carers a day. No assessment has been carried out at the home (as promised) and us as a family have had absolutely no contact with social care despite us emailing them last week to enquire what was happening. The home manager is in full agreement that my mother needs to be in the home as she is at risk of falling due to mobility issues and also suffering from COPD and low blood pressure when she stands up after sitting down for any period of time.
Also, my mother accepts that the home is the best place for her and has really settled in well and joins in with activities.
Has anyone on here experienced anything similar? Our biggest fear is mum coming home and having an incident in between care visits.

Just to say if that is the standard of care you were met with by these social workers then you need to put in a complaint and make the LA aware of what they are paying for -personal arrangements on Whatsapp are not acceptable in work time. I would get back on the phone and refuse to accept the decision based on the fact that the initial assessment was poorly conducted prior to respite and there has been no reasonable assessment if respite should end and they are saying a CH is not required for your mum.

Sadly this is the state of play with social care, I had to move mountains to get my mum into a care home when things were really going wrong and despite my efforts I actually had to take four weeks of work because social services couldn't get their act together resulting in my emailing mums MP after which with the MPs pressure a solution was found.

 

[Muttimuggle]

Yes, a very similar situation to what you describe.Only difference was that she was self funding. Mum was in a Re-enablement Centre after a fall from the stairs and a broken femur..and this had followed a stay in hospital. The Re-enablement Centre operated in a not too dissimilar way to a care home. My mum made the decision after 12 weeks away from home that she didn't think she could go home again. She remained prone to falls and her mobility was much reduced.
So here is the relevant thing to note. Despite me telling the visiting social worker that mum wanted to go to a care home the social worker didn't seem to believe me and went to see mum alone maybe to try to convince her otherwise...but got a similar response. Even after that, the social worker kept trying to push my mum into going home with 4 care calls a day. I almost had to fight my case.I was made to feel like my decision was wrong or unsuitable. I assume this was because knowing that a person is self funding doesn't allow SS to know how soon the person's funds will run out and then either social services would have to pay/supplement or they might assess again and deem the person not in need of a care home and send them back home with the cheaper care package. I think the attitude may vary authority to authority depending upon how the budget is allocated.
Things that matter a lot in their decision about a care home and care, are as you probably know, much to do with safety. If you can give lots of evidence about anything unsafe that would be a big factor in the decisions made, maybe, as would your inability to step in and cope with it all - your health, your commitments. That will be valid too.

 

[Jessbow]

Is your mum a home owner? /able to self fund?

They will insist on home carers first if not

 

[Historian]

I was in a similar situation with my husband. I was told that having carers would have to be seen to fail before he could have 24 hour care. I was in despair as I knew this wouldn’t help. He had a bladder infection which heightens all the problems of Alzheimer’s
In the end I walked into the GP’s surgery in complete despair. The doctor was kind and examined him. He could see that I was at breaking point. The consultant also knew I couldn’t cope. The doctor rang social services and a social worker visited us. She spoke to the consultant and together it was agreed that he should go into hospital. He will not be discharged home as he requires 24 hour care.
Keep trying with the social worker, the GP and the consultant. Make sure they know you can’t cope and that carers won’t meet his needs. He has gone past the help of carers. It is possible to go from home to 24 hour care. I so hope you get the help you need.